National Urban League comes to Cincy, landmark renovations may cost more cash, Cranley says cities don't need to annex the burbs

It's morning! I have news! Morning news! Wow, sorry, that's a lot of exclamation points. I sprung for the large iced coffee this morning and probably need to settle down a little. Anyway, here we go:Cincinnati is playing host to the annual National Urban League Conference this week. The event, held by one of America’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations, is expected to draw 8,000 people to the city for events Wednesday through Saturday. The conference is a big deal for Cincinnati. Last time the city tried to host the event in 2003, it was recovering from the 2001 civil unrest that gave Cincinnati a national reputation for race problems. Notable black entertainers boycotted downtown and the Urban League took its conference elsewhere. Since then, some reconciliation and a lot of revitalization has happened, but many old problems remain. In a report called “The State of Black America,” the Urban League ranked the city 74th out of 77 peer cities in terms of economic equity between blacks and whites. Blacks in the Greater Cincinnati area make an average of $24,272 a year compared to $57,481 for whites, the greatest disparity of any city in the region. Here’s a quote worth thinking about in a Cincinnati Enquirer piece on the event:"The riots ... were also about economic frustration," said Donna Jones Baker, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Greater Southwest Ohio. "These economic gaps continue. And while we have a vibrancy in the city because of wonderful things happening, we have a group of people who can't access them. We can’t expect people to suffer in silence forever.”Among those attending the event are Vice President Joe Biden and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Biden will make opening remarks Wednesday and Paul will deliver a town hall speech Friday. This seems like a good opportunity for both to keep their speaking short and their listening long, but yeah.• The cost of renovating Union Terminal and Music Hall may be more than initially estimated, a group of consultants say. International real estate company Hines looked over engineers’ $331 million cost estimates and found places where more money may be needed for both projects. The possible overrun could amount to $10 million more added to the project. The revelation comes during a continuing disagreement about where renovation money should come from. Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann suggests the city chip in to help shore up the landmarks. Hartmann argues that the county can’t “go it alone” in efforts to fix the buildings. A further city contribution would be in addition to the $10 million the city has already pledged for the renovations. Mayor John Cranley shot back at Hartmann yesterday with an editorial detailing the city’s ongoing commitment to the buildings. • A group of parachutists landed on a parking garage at Fourth and Elm yesterday, according to police. Annnd…. that’s about all anyone knows about it. The group may have been BASE jumpers parachuting from Carew Tower, or may have jumped from an airplane, though air traffic controllers at Lunken Airport didn’t report anything out of the ordinary. Maybe they were protesting something, but none were wearing tiger suits or waving banners shaming Procter & Gamble, so it's hard to tell.• Horseshoe Casino, which has been open just over a year, is undertaking a half-million dollar, 8,700-square-foot expansion. The new addition sounds like it will be a patio for people to take smoke breaks when they need to cool off from all the fun they’re having fighting battles against the one-armed bandit (that’s a slot machine for those not hip to casino lingo). The patio will be enclosed, have a bar and will only be accessible from inside the casino, Horseshoe representatives say, though they’re tight-lipped so far about further details. • Cincinnati and Mayor Cranley are featured prominently in a Governing magazine article about changes in the way cities view their outlying suburbs. The article discusses how some cities are shifting away from the view that suburbs are valuable prizes to be annexed or wrapped up in Indianapolis/Louisville-style city and county combined governments. A renewed interest in cities among the young and well-to-do and an increase in suburban poverty are cited as reasons for the shift in thinking from some city leaders. Cranley’s view that Cincinnati is just fine without taking over surrounding suburbs challenges conventional accepted wisdom.“You had a sentiment that urban cores need the wealth of the suburbs to have a better budget picture,” he says in the article. “People in the suburbs escaped the city to flee the problems. But that’s changing. You’re going to see cities in a better financial situation than a lot of the suburbs.”• Finally, a story that could (hopefully) only happen in New York City, where a developer has won permission from the city to have two separate entrances in a new apartment building — one for well-to-do residents of its luxury units and another for the tenants of its required-by-law affordable units. So, basically, a poor door. Last year, another developer explained just such a plan for another building thusly:“No one ever said that the goal was full integration of these populations,” said David Von Spreckelsen, a senior VP at Toll Brothers, a New York development company. “So now you have politicians talking about that, saying how horrible those back doors are. I think it’s unfair to expect very high-income homeowners who paid a fortune to live in their building to have to be in the same boat as low-income renters, who are very fortunate to live in a new building in a great neighborhood.”Translation: Being rich is hard when you have to rub elbows with not-rich folks, who should just shut up and enjoy the crumbs we’re throwing them.

On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt officially became president of the United States. At the time,
the new president faced a massive financial crisis and depression. The
nation had an outstanding 24.9 percent unemployment rate, and faith in
the financial system was nearly nonexistent. But with a Democratic
majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and 64 percent Democratic
majority in the Senate, FDR managed to pass a series of laws within 100
days of inauguration that helped set the economy on track.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.
The vice presidential debate between Democratic Vice
President Joe Biden and Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan took place last night.
The general consensus among pundits is the debate was a draw, with perhaps Biden edging out ahead.
Regardless of who won, political scientists say debates have
little-to-no electoral impact in the long term, especially vice
presidential debates.
Mitt Romney made a bit of a flub yesterday. He told The Columbus Dispatch,
“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have
insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you
have your heart attack.’” However, that’s not completely accurate.
Research shows the uninsured are a lot more likely to die from a heart
attack, mostly because they get substantially less preventive health
care.
PolitiFact Ohio says Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is
wrong about Issue 2. Specifically, Husted said if a member of the
independent commission was bribed, the member could not be kicked out of
office. PolitiFact says the claim is false because methods for removing
unelected officials from office exist outside of the redistricting
amendment. If Issue 2 passed, redistricting would be handled by an
independent citizens commission. Currently, elected officials redraw
district boundaries, but they often use the process for political
advantage. The Republican majority redrew the First Congressional
District, which includes Cincinnati, to include Warren County, giving
Republicans an advantage by giving them more rural voters that are more
likely to vote for them.
But Husted did have some good news yesterday. A federal
appeals court judge upheld a decision requiring election officials to
count provisional ballots that were brought about due to poll worker
mistakes. Husted didn’t much care for that part of the ruling. However,
the judge also said a legal signature must be required on every provisional ballot,
overturning that part of the previous decision. A very small win, but
Husted seemed happy in a statement: “I am extremely pleased that the Court of Appeals
agreed with me that we must have a valid, legal signature on all
provisional ballots.”
The mayor and Cincinnati Public Schools announced a new
joint effort that won a $40,000 grant yesterday. The effort will go to
50 tutors, who will help 100 students meet the state’s new Third Grade
Reading Guarantee.However, a loophole in the Third Grade Reading Guarantee may allow third-graders to skip tests to move onto the fourth grade.
Out of 12 similar regions, Cincinnati ranks No. 10 on 15
indicators including jobs, cost of living and population. Cincinnati did
fairly well in terms of just jobs, though; the city was No. 6 in that
category. The ranks come from Vision 2015 and Agenda 360.
With the support of Gov. John Kasich, Ohio is trying to do
more with university research. The theme of the push is to build
stronger links between universities and the private sector to boost
stronger, entrepreneurial research.
Josh Mandel, state treasurer and Ohio’s Republican
candidate for the U.S. Senate, is in trouble again for not answering
questions. A testy exchange on live radio started when Ron Ponder, the
host, asked Mandel about potential cronyism in the treasurer’s office,
and Mandel replied by implying Ponder is with the Brown campaign. Ponder
got so fed up he eventually ended the exchange by saying, “Hang up on
this dude, man.”Does eating more chocolate earn a nation more Nobel prizes? Science says no. I say yes.

Because it's going to suck anyway

Debates are... well, debates. They can be enlightening and informative, or they can be boring. Think back to the last time you heard someone say, "boy golly, that was an exciting debate!" Yeah. We didn't think so.But don't worry, your friends at CityBeat are going to get you out of this jam. The only thing more exciting than watching two people whose Constitutional job descriptions are virtually nonexistent debate overplayed policy points is doing it while drinking.To that end, we've come up with a drinking game. You're welcome. And we're sorry.
If either candidate tells an inane personal anecdote about
Kentucky to make themselves more folksy and relatable because that’s where
they’re holding the debate, take a smug drink since you don’t live there.If the camera pans to Jill Biden, take a drink.If Jill Biden looks embarrassed, take two drinks.If Joe Biden says “GM is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead,
pour some out to your homies and take a drink.If Joe Biden screws up and says “Obama is dead” finish your
drink.If either candidate mentions the age gap between them take a
sip.If Paul Ryan talks about Dodd-Frank or Bowles-Simpson or
something else nobody knows about, take a drink.If Paul Ryan does math, take a drink.If Joe Biden says “literally” when he actually means
“figuratively” take a drink.If Joe Biden says “literally” and actually means “literally”
chug.If Paul Ryan mentions his mother, take a drink.If Paul Ryan’s mother is in attendance, chug.If Joe Biden awkwardly mentions Paul Ryan’s physique or
workout regimen, take a begrudging sip.If either candidate mentions Ayn Rand, take an
individualistic drink.If the camera stops on an audience member gazing dreamily at
Paul Ryan, take two drinksIf Joe Biden brings up Big Bird, turn off the debate because
this election season is SO OVER.If Paul Ryan tries to relate to young voters by bringing up
the contents of his iPod, scoff and take two drinks while mentally reminding
yourself to introduce him to Passion Pit if you ever see him in person.If anyone mentions P90X trade in your beer for a light beer
and timidly sip it while resolving to hit the gym tomorrow.If Joe Biden misstates the name of the place/city/state
where he is debating, chug.If either candidate mentions the “47 percent” chug. If you
are part of the 53 percent that actually pay income taxes and Mitt Romney cares
about you, buy someone else a drink.If Joe Biden mentions anything about
him and Barack Obama being "friends" or "buddies," drink.If Paul Ryan mentions Joe Biden saying the middle class has been
"buried," chug.If Joe Biden mentions taking the train to work, finish your drink.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your nearest polling booth here.
The vice presidential debate is tonight. The debate will
be between Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan. After the last
debate, some pundits are saying Biden needs to win this one to slow down
the Romney-Ryan momentum. But keep in mind political scientists say
debates have little to no electoral impact in the long term, so it’s
possible most of the post-debate polling in favor of Mitt Romney could
indicate a temporary bounce. The debate is at 9 p.m. and will be aired on all the big networks. The full schedule of presidential debates can be found here.
Romney might campaign in Lebanon, Ohio this weekend. Ohio
is considered a must-win for the Republican presidential candidate. Even
with a post-debate bounce, Romney still looks to be the underdog in
Ohio. The latest poll from NBC, Wall Street Journal and Marist shows
Romney down six points to Obama among likely voters in the state with a
margin of error of 3.1. The poll does show the race tightening from the
eight-point gap measured on Oct. 3, but it’s apparently not enough. By
itself, the poll could be considered an outlier and too optimistic for
Obama, but it actually echoes the latest CNN poll and aggregate polling
taken after the debate. In aggregate polling, Romney is down 1.6 points
in Ohio after the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll. Before the latest poll, he was
down 0.8 points.
A new poll shows a slim majority of Ohioans now support
same-sex marriage. The poll found 52 percent of Ohioans support it,
while 37 percent want it to stay illegal. The poll gives a shot of
optimism to Freedom to Marry Ohio, an amendment that would legalize
same-sex marriage in the state. Supporters say the amendment could be on
the Ohio ballot as soon as November 2013.
State Auditor Dave Yost wants to put the attendance fraud
investigation in context. When talking with Gongwer yesterday, Yost
explained that the potential data rigging going could have cost schools additional funding for at-risk students: “I suspect we
probably have schools in Ohio that ought to be getting that extra money
for those extra services to help those schools that are most at risk,
and that money is not flowing because the data is not accurate.”
Will county budget cuts hurt public safety? As the county
commissioners try to sort out the budget without raising taxes, Hamilton County’s sheriff
department could see some cuts, according to Commissioner Greg Hartmann. He insists the cuts will not hurt public safety, however.
An Oct. 1 analysis by left-leaning Policy Matters Ohio
found the casino tax will not be enough to make up for cuts in state
aid. Even in cities hosting casinos, the extra tax revenue will only
cover about half of cuts.
Only a few weeks remain in Hamilton County’s free electronics recycling program.
A Nuns on the Bus tour is encouraging voters to support
politicians that provide for the poor. The tour will avoid being
partisan and mentioning candidates' names, but the general vibe of the tour implies
support for Democratic candidates.Josh Mandel, Ohio’s Republican candidate for the U.S.
Senate, has gotten another rating from PolitiFact Ohio. This one is
“Mostly False” for Mandel’s claim that opponent Democratic Sen. Sherrod
Brown has missed more than 350 votes in the Senate. Brown has only
missed 21 out of 1,779 votes since he joined the Senate, and he hasn’t
missed any votes this year. The Mandel campaign claims the ad was
keeping track of Brown’s entire public career, but 83 of the votes Brown
missed in that time period were in 2000, when Brown was in a car accident
in which he broke his ribs and vertebrae.
The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll also had some bad news for Mandel.
He was found to be down 11 points to Brown among likely voters.
Mandel is now down 4.2 points in aggregate polling.
The right-leaning Tax Foundation ranked Ohio No. 39 for
business tax climate. The conservative research group gave Ohio good
marks for unemployment insurance and the corporate tax rate, but it
criticized the state for its individual income tax and property tax. New
York, New Jersey and California were at the bottom of the overall
rankings, and Wyoming, South Dakota and Nevada were at the top.
Jobless claims fell to 339,000 — the lowest in four and a half years.
Coupled with last week’s employment numbers, the news indicates that an
economic recovery is truly underway. However, jobless claims are
very volatile, so it’s uncertain whether the drop will stick.Science has found some stars die in style.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus held
a conference call with Ohio reporters Wednesday morning in response to
Tuesday comments by Democratic Vice President Joe Biden that the middle
class had been “buried” in the last four years.
“Obama and Biden have buried the middle class, and now they want to bury them some more,” Priebus told reporters.
“I mean, just imagine what Barack Obama would do. He
buried us economically in this country knowing that he would have to
face re-election. Just imagine what he would do with nothing but
daylight in front of him. Just imagine where this economy would go.”
Biden made his comments before an audience of about 1,000
in Charlotte on Tuesday. He said Republican presidential candidate Mitt
Romney’s tax cuts for millionaires would raise taxes for the middle
class.
“How can they justify raising classes on a middle class that has been buried the last four years?” Biden said.
Biden tried to clarify that he meant they had been buried by policies supported by Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan.
Republicans, however, jumped on the comment immediately,
with Romney tweeting, “the middle class has been buried the last 4
years, which is why we need a change in November.”
Priebus said despite polling showing Obama pulling ahead
of Romney in Ohio that the state would be very close. He said
Republicans have a better ground game and would “crush” Democrats.
“I think we’re going to crush the Democrats on the ground,” Priebus said.
“I just don’t think they’ve got a very good ground game. I’ve looked through it, I’ve seen it. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
Priebus said if Romney were to lose Ohio, he was still optimistic about Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.
“We’ve got it all on the table. Ohio is, of course,
extremely important. It’s nothing new, but I also see avenues to 270
(electoral votes) opening up for Mitt Romney in places that weren’t
there in ’08.”

Compares Obama administration to replacement refs who botched end of Monday game

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan weighed
in on the controversy over replacement National Football League referees in a Tuesday town
hall-style meeting in Cincinnati, comparing the Obama administration to
the substitute officials who cost his home-state Green Bay Packers a
victory with their botched call Monday night.
“Give me a break. It is time to get the real refs,” Ryan said.
“And you know what, it reminds me of President Obama and
the economy — if you can’t get it right, it’s time to get out. I half
think that these refs work part time for the Obama administration in the
budget office.”
Ryan was referencing a play that should have been called an interception for the Packers but instead allowed the Seattle Seahawks to score a game-winning touchdown on Monday Night Foodball. Replacement referees — some of
whom may have been fired by the Lingerie Football League for
incompetence — are filling in for unionized officials who are locked
out.
The vice presidential candidate spoke inside a Byer
Steel warehouse surrounded by piles of I-beams and rebar. A
self-proclaimed Southern gospel rock band played before the event,
occasionally pausing to talk up GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s
conservative credentials.
Much of Ryan’s prepared speech, as well as questions from
participants in the town hall, focused on the economy, the deficit and
the need for changes to entitlement programs.
Asked by an audience member how he would limit government
and eliminate programs, Ryan said he and Romney would spur economic
growth by lessening the tax burdens on small businesses, cut
discretionary spending on government agencies and overhaul entitlement
programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Outside before the rally, protesters called for Ryan —
whose House-passed budget made deeps cuts to many welfare and safety-net
programs — to have more compassion for the poor.
Meanwhile an airplane sponsored by MoveOn.org carried a
banner reading, “Romney: Believe in 55% of America?” referencing
comments revealed in a recent video where Romney claimed 47 percent of
Americans didn’t pay any income tax and viewed themselves as victims
reliant on government so it wasn’t his job to worry about their votes.
“We’re here with several messages, including the
immorality of the Ryan budget and how it will impact the vast majority
of Americans negatively," said David Little with the liberal advocacy
group ProgressOhio. “When a budget protects those with the most and
negatively impacts those with the least, I would suggest that is
immoral.”
Bentley Davis with the Alliance for Retired Americans said
she was concerned about what Romney and Ryan’s plans for Medicare and
Social Security would do to retirement security.
Ryan had proposed to keep Medicare the same for anybody
already 55 and over, but give younger Americans the choice to get money
to spend toward private insurance or stay in a Medicare-like program.
Inside the warehouse was a digital sign that ticked up the national debt, which was at $16 trillion and rising.
“Here is what our government, our Congressional Budget
Office, is telling us our debt is in the future if we stay on the path
that President Obama has kept us on, has put us on … the debt goes as
high as two and a half times the size of our economy by the time my
three kids are my age,” Ryan said.
The Obama campaign fired back in an email response, saying
Ryan used misleading rhetoric to hide his own record and Republican
plans to raise taxes on the middle class to fund tax cuts for wealthier
Americans.
“The Romney-Ryan ticket has plenty
of questions to answer about a failed record on manufacturing and job
creation and their support for policies that will devastate middle class
families by raising their taxes and shipping jobs overseas,” Obama for
America – Ohio Press Secretary Jessica Kershaw wrote.
“These policies would take the growing manufacturing industry backward, not forward.”For some in the audience, the economy was also on the forefront.Steve Teal, 56, of West Chester, said he doesn't like the direction the country is going in."Just get the country back to work," Teal said. "I don't trust him (Obama). He doesn't stand up for America. He doesn't stand up for Americans."CityBeat writer Stefane Kremer contributed to this report.
Ryan went from Cincinnati to an event with Romney in Dayton later on Tuesday.

Actress and acclaimed rapper Natalie Portman played up her
Cincinnati ties in a Wednesday appearance at the Obama campaign-sponsored
Women’s Summit at Union Terminal.
The Academy Award-winner said her mother graduated from
Walnut Hills High School and her grandfather — Art Stevens — grew Champion
Windows in Cincinnati after starting as a door-to-door salesman.
“Because of that, I see President Obama’s support of small
businesses as so crucial to our economy,” Portman said, adding that Obama has
cut taxes for small businesses 82 times since taking office.
Portman said the Republican Party and their presidential
ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan did not have the best interests of women at
heart. She pointed to attacks on the Affordable Care Act’s mandates that
insurers provide birth control to women and ensure preventative care such as
mammogram screenings for breast cancer is covered, as well a bill sponsored by
Ryan and embattled congressional candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) that would
eliminate all abortion funding except for cases of “forcible rape.”
“We need to stand up for ourselves,” Portman told the packed
auditorium that was crowded with an audience of mostly women. “Our mothers and
our grandmothers made giant steps for us. We can’t go backwards. We need to go
forwards.”
Portman was joined by Obama Campaign National Women’s Vote
Director Kate Chapek, former Ohio first lady Frances Strickland, Ohio Rep.
Alicia Reece and Obama campaign volunteer Mary Shelton.
An Ohio Romney rep said the campaign did not have a comment
on the Women’s Summit, but is hosting a “Women for Mitt” call night featuring
former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao in Kenwood on Thursday.
“Ohio women believe in the Romney-Ryan
path for America that will result in lower taxes, less spending, less
government and more economic growth,” said a release from Romney’s campaign.
The Obama event on Wednesday catered to
women, with Chapek telling the audience she knew how difficult it was for women
to get there with jobs and the challenge of getting their kids to school. She
framed women’s role in the election as a conversation.
“The conversation starts like this:
women, turns out, we’re not a constituency,” Chapek said. “Who knew? Apparently
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, because they don’t realize that women are actually a
majority in this country.”
She told the women gathered to have conversations with their
neighbors and friends and encourage them to volunteer at phone banks or
knocking on doors.
Strickland talked about the need to reconcile qualities
traditionally seen as masculine — like power — with those seen as feminine —
like love.
She also took the opportunity to riff on a statement made by
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who said political wives were heroes because while they’re
husbands were on stage in the limelight, they were at home doing things like
laundry.
“I even did the laundry last night so I could come here
today,” Strickland said. “Even (former Gov.) Ted does the laundry.”
Summit attendee Ray Boston, a 67-year-old retired writer for
AT&T, said Natalie Portman’s presence caught his eye.
“I’m a celebrity photo enthusiast,” he said. “Nothing’s
official until I’ve taken a picture of it.”
Boston said he didn’t vote in 2008, but felt the upcoming
November election was too important to sit out. He said he was leaning toward
voting for Obama and liked his health care overhaul, but was opposed to the
president’s views on gay marriage for religious reasons.
Gwen McFarlin, who works in health care administration, said
she was there to support President Obama. She supports his health care overhaul,
but thinks it’s a first step to further changes.
She said she was encouraged by the diversity of the women in
attendance.
“For me, I’m sure the women who are here represent all
the world, not one issue,” she said. “We’re here as a group of women working to
empower all the U.S. and the world.”

Vows to bring to justice killers of U.S. Ambassador to Libya

DAYTON – Vice President Joe Biden took time at the beginning of his
Wednesday campaign stop in Dayton to condemn an overnight attack that killed the
U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, while praising the work and
courage of American diplomats and promising to bring to justice those who
carried out the attack.
“(This) brave — and it’s not hyperbole to say brave –— ambassador
was in Benghazi while the war was going on. Our ambassador risked his life
repeatedly while the war in Libya to get rid of that dictator was going on,”
Biden said.
“These men are as brave and as courageous as any of our warriors.”
The Tuesday attack took place during a protest against an amateur
short film made in the United States that protesters say insulted the Prophet
Muhammad. U.S Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three of his staff members
were killed.
“Let me be clear — we are resolved to bring to justice their
killers,” Biden said.
The vice president made no mention of Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s response from
the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which he characterized as “akin to an apology” and a
“severe miscalculation,” but the vice president quickly segued into politics, alluding
to Romney’s relative lack of experience in foreign policy.
“The task of a president is not only to defend our interests and
causes and the cause of freedom abroad, it is also to build a nation here at
home, to which the entire world can look and aspire to be like,” Biden said. “Whether
we do that and how we do that, that is literally the essence of the choice we
face in this presidential election. It really is that basic, and foreign policy
is not some sideline to all of this.”
The Romney campaign in Ohio was quick to respond, calling Biden’s
remarks “hypocritical” in an emailed statement.
“Vice President Biden’s appearance in Dayton only served further
damage to his credibility as he reprised hypocritical and widely debunked
attacks against Mitt Romney. Not only did the Vice President mislead Ohioans,
but he attacked Mitt Romney for supporting the same tax policy the Obama
Administration supported just last year,” Romney Ohio spokesman Christopher
Maloney wrote.
“With today’s Census report showing nearly 1 in 6 Americans
living in poverty and incomes continuing to decline, it appears that misleading
attacks are all the Obama campaign has left to offer 400,000 Ohioans looking
for work.”
Maloney’s email also fact-checked a claim made by Biden during
his speech. Biden said that he opposed the so-called “territorial tax,” which
he said would allow American companies that invested abroad to avoid paying
taxes in the United States.
The email included links to an Associated Press fact checking
article that concludes that Romney’s proposal was aimed at encouraging
investment in the U.S. rather than overseas.
Biden spoke to a packed house at Wright State University in
Dayton, with overflow crowds estimated in the hundreds viewing in separate
rooms in the Student Union.
The vice president reiterated many of his usual stump speech
points — the Romney tax plan’s negative effects on the middle class, the
benefits of the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration’s commitment to
manufacturing — but much of Biden’s speech focused on education. He said a president
Romney would cut funding for Pell Grants, meaning many students in the audience
would have to leave school. He also lauded President Barack Obama’s
administration’s enactment of a tax break of $2,500 for every family that sends
a child to college.
The usually bombastic Biden wasn’t without his gaffes. Twice he
referred to Wright State as “Wayne State,” which is in Detroit, despite a large
Wright State University banner displayed in the conference room where he gave
his speech.
The crowd was quick to correct him after the second time he misspoke.
“Wright State, which also includes Wayne State,” Biden said after
he was corrected, eliciting laughs from the audience.

Vice President Joe Biden was in town over the weekend.
During the stop, he outlined “fundamental differences” between President
Barack Obama’s campaign and Mitt Romney’s campaign. Specifically, he
criticized the Romney-Ryan plan of turning Medicare into a voucher system.
The visit also unveiled a new fake, pointless controversy in the media
when a female biker almost sat on Biden’s lap.Secretary of State Jon Husted backed down on telling
county boards of elections to not begin implementing in-person early
voting for the weekend and Monday before Election Day. On Aug. 31, a
federal judge ruled Husted must enact in-person early voting for the
extra days. Following the case, Husted sent out Directive 2012-40
ordering county boards of elections to not enact in-person early voting
rules until the court case granting extra hours was appealed and
re-ruled on. The judge responded to the directive by asking Husted to
explain himself in court. But Husted backed down by sending out
Directive 2012-42, which rescinds Directive 2012-40. Republicans have
consistently attempted to block more voting hours in the past few
months, citing racial politics and costs.A CityBeat analysis found cuts in the public sector are partly to blame for the unemployment rate.The identity of the man behind a super PAC supporting
senatorial candidate Josh Mandel, lying extraordinaire, has been revealed. The group is Government Integrity Fund, and it is headed by
Columbus lobbyist Tom Norris. The group also employs former Mandel aide
Joe Ritter.Criminals might face stiffer penalties for gun-related
violations due to a new Butler County policy. Critics say the policy
will cost the taxpayer more money.The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreclosure
sale notices cannot be distributed via websites. The court said
institutions have to notify customers more directly.The Enquirer shined some light into its paywall
model in an editorial by CEO Margaret Buchanan yesterday. In the
editorial, Buchanan acknowledges the newspaper’s duty to “watchdog
journalism” to keep organizations and people in check.Cincinnati web designers were quite busy in 2011.The Ohio Board of Education is meeting today and tomorrow.
The agenda seems pretty packed, but it’s possible the board could
release more details about the search for state superintendent at the
meeting. The board will consider how to transition into the third
grade reading guarantee recently passed into law by the Ohio legislature
and Gov. John Kasich.An ammonia leak caused an evacuation at a food processing plant yesterday.A pizza owner in Florida really loves Obama. Florida is
considered a major swing state in the presidential election. However,
the race may not be as close as the media’s fairness machine seeks to
make it seem. Recent aggregate polling at FiveThirtyEight and
RealClearPolitics is moving heavily in Obama’s direction in swing states
and the national level. That could be attributed to volatility caused
by political conventions, but the trend favoring Obama has been
consistent for some time now.The Romney campaign flip-flopped on Obamacare only to
flip-flop back in a matter of hours. The campaign has been repeatedly
criticized for lacking substance — much to the apathy of both Romney and
Ryan — and this does not help.Popular Science scientifically analyzed why former President Bill Clinton is so good at giving speeches.